The U.S. Air Force has released a video showing one of its AC-130J Ghostrider gunships firing its 30mm cannon and 105mm howitzer at the ex-USS Dubuque during a recent sinking exercise (SINKEX) in the Pacific. The Austin class amphibious warfare ship was sent to the bottom of the ocean as part of the larger biennial Rim Of The Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise. At the same time, a review of the AC-130J fleet’s capabilities is underway, which may lead to the aircraft losing their iconic 105mm guns, amid a broader shift away from counter-insurgency operations to preparing for high-end fights, especially one against China.
A rare player in SINKEXs, the AC-130J, assigned to the 27th Special Operations Wing at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico, is seen peppering the ex-Dubuque‘s superstructure and other portions of the bow end of the ship, as well as its rear flight deck, with 30mm and 105mm fire in the footage from RIMPAC 2024. The former USS Dubuque, which the U.S. Navy decommissioned in 2011, had a fully loaded displacement of nearly 17,000 tons when it was in service, but was stripped down ahead of the sinking.
The ex-Dubuque SINKEX occurred in the Pacific off the coast of Hawaii on July 11. This was one of two separate SINKEXs conducted during RIMPAC 2024, which wraps up today. The other one involved the former USS Tarawa, a decommissioned amphibious assault ship, the particular significance of which you can read more about here.
Whether or not the Ghostrider employed any other weapons beyond its guns is unclear. Another picture of the aircraft from RIMPAC taken on July 9 shows it carrying a four-rail launcher for AGM-114 Hellfire missiles under its left wing, but without any actual missiles. The AC-130J, the only variant of the AC-130 now in service, can employ a variety of precision-guided munitions in addition to the AGM-114, including GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bomb (SDB), GBU-69/B Small Glide Munition (SGM) bombs, and AGM-176 Griffin missiles.
Other assets also helped sink the former Dubuque, including a U.S. Air Force B-2 stealth bomber that struck it with a specialized Quicksink anti-ship version of the 2,000-pound class GBU-31/B Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) precision-guided bomb. At least one U.S. Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopter also employed Hellfires against the former Navy amphibious warfare ship.
U.S. and foreign forces employed various air, sea, ground-launched cruise missiles in the subsequent Tarawa SINKEX, but it is unclear if any of those munitions were also used against the ex-Dubuque. A full list of the munitions used to sink both ships has not yet been released.
Pictures from RIMPAC also show an A-10 Warthog ground attack aircraft flying alongside the AC-130J during another live-fire portion of RIMPAC on July 15.
Employing AC-130s in maritime operations is not new, as The War Zone has reported on in the past. In addition, despite the steady introduction of more types of precision-guided munitions into the AC-130J’s arsenal, shorter-ranged guns have remained an important component of the aircraft armament package. The Air Force had originally planned to leave the 105mm weapon off of the Ghostriders, but reversed course in the 2010s. More recently, the gunships had started recieving improved howitzers. The AC-130J that took part in RIMPAC is one of the examples now fitted with the upgraded 105mm gun.
The ability of side-firing gunships like the AC-130 to employ guns very precisely against specific targets on the ground, which also helps mitigate the potential for collateral damage, has long been one of the key benefits of aircraft of this type. This was on display during RIMPAC 2024, with the Ghostrider being able to put a round right into a door on the decommissioned Dubuque‘s superstructure, as seen in the screen capture from the SINKEX video below.
Crews can more readily shift focus from one target to another with guns than with other air-launched munitions. The guns can also fire a wide array of ammunition types to produce different effects depending on the target set, all of which are also less expensive per shot than a precision-guided munition.
The role of AC-130 gunships in the maritime domain has historically been heavily centered around engaging lower-end threats, such as swarms of small boats. The video from the RIMPAC 2024 SINKEX highlights how the Ghostriders, and their guns specifically, could be utilized against larger ships and in instances where the objective might not be to sink the vessel, such as during special operations boarding operations. The aircraft’s 30mm cannon, in particular, could be used to engage personnel on a ship’s deck.
However, during a future major conflict, just getting within gun range of a higher-value target like an amphibious warfare ship, likely operating as part of a larger group of warships further supported by air and other assets, would be a very tall order, if not impossible, for Air Force AC-130s. Ghostriders might still be able to leverage their guns against vessels in lower-risk areas or to help finish off severely damaged vessels separated from their companions. Armed overwatch over and around friendly forces on islands and anchorages could be another future maritime mission in a higher-end fight. It is worth noting that even during operations in largely permissive airspace over countries like Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan in the past 20 years or so, AC-130s have almost exclusively operated at night in large part to help reduce their vulnerability to potential threats.
As already noted, the Air Force is already taking a hard look at the Ghostrider’s current and future planned capabilities to help ensure its relevance going forward. The integration of new 105mm howitzers onto the gunships is on hold and there is the possibility that the entire fleet could lose those guns entirely. Plans to add a laser directed energy weapon to the AC-130J’s arsenal, described in the past as having the potential to be especially useful in counter-terrorism missions, have been axed.
There is a heavy emphasis now on greater stand-off capabilities, including small cruise missiles and air-launched drones, coupled with new sensors like active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radars. In addition to helping with targeting, an AESA radar would provide improved threat warning and general situational awareness, as well as electronic warfare capabilities. The AC-130J already has an extensive and still-expanding electronic warfare suite for self-protection. Other upgrades to the Ghostrider’s mission systems, including ones enabled by advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning, could be on the horizon, as well.
Discussions about the AC-130J’s future roles and missions will now have the added data points gained from the employment of the Ghostrider and its guns during the ex-Dubuque SINKEX.
Contact the author: joe@twz.com